Between Here and There
by Sparky Weedwhacker
Summary: There was an entire day between when Voldemort died and when Harry showed up on the Dursley's doorstep. The diagrams on nappy boxes make them look more simple than they really are. One shot.


There was an entire day between when Voldemort died and when Harry showed up on the Dursley's doorstep. Just how did Hagrid get Sirius's motorcycle, anyway?

A/N: This was the prologue to a longer fanfic. I'm undecided just what exactly I want to do with it. So instead of just wasting hard drive space I thought I'd upload it as a one-shot. I don't know if it's good. If you like it, tell me. If you don't, tell me anyway.

There was a knock at the front door.

Sirius realized with a start that he had been sleeping. And so had Harry. The last he remembered it had been 5 PM, the sky gray and murky outside his cottage windows. It was nearing eight now, and it was black and clear, the stars winking down as if all was right in the world.

He looked down. Harry's back was rising and falling serenely, his face lax. Another loud knock, and Harry was starting to fuss where he lay against Sirius's bare chest, his tiny brow furrowed. Sirius had discarded his shirt sometime around noon after a rather hazardous diaper change, a feat that, by the smell of things, would have to be attempted once more.

Where was his wand? Oh God, how could he be so careless after everything that had happened? He caught sight of the handle sticking out of the box of diapers at the end of the coffee table, which was littered with tins of formula, unused diapers, a half full bottle, and colorful toys. All remnants of his desperate attempts to sooth Harry, who despite his efforts had not stopped crying and crying and crying—

A knock, louder than before. Death Eaters would not knock, Sirius reminded himself. But he still grabbed his wand out of the diaper box before he went to answer the door, Harry grumbling in protest of his interrupted nap.

Sirius looked through the peephole, and saw only a belt buckle. He rested his head against the wood, sagging with relief. Harry yawned widely, nuzzling his face against Sirius's chest.

"What is it?" he asked loudly.

"'s Hagrid, Sirius," the giant said, as if it weren't immediately obvious, "We need ter talk. I made a mistake."

"Mistake? How?"

"I think I would much like ter see yer face when I talk ter ya." It was the weary sadness in his voice that made Sirius open the door. He tapped the frame with his wand, making it expand to accommodate. The first floor of the cottage was an open, single room and the second story loft was small, leaving the ceiling where it did not cover high and spacious. Hagrid stepped inside, fitting, but just barely.

"Can I get you anything? Tea?" Did he have anything big enough to serve Hagrid in? He imagined Hagrid trying to sip out of one of his delicate porcelain cups, pinky out, and gave a single, near-hysterical laugh that he tried to hide as a yawn.

"N-no," Hagrid said, wringing his beard in his hands. "Can't stay too long. I got important business Dumbledore wants me to attend to. 's why I'm here, actually."

Harry was starting to fuss louder, more insistently. "What could Dumbeldore possibly want from me?" Sirius asked.

Hagrid pouted, exhaling loudly through his nose. He kept opening his mouth and then closing it before he even started, as if nothing he could think of was good enough. Finally, he said:

"Harry."

"What _about_ Harry?" Sirius asked, the weight of the wand in his hand suddenly important.

"I should have never let you talk me out of taking him to his aunt and uncle. I violated a direct order from Dumbledore. But he understands neither of us were… were in our right minds. He still wants me to take 'im to 'em, and that is what I'm gonna do. They're his _family_."

Sirius decided quite immediately that this was the most foolish thing he had heard. His eyes narrowed.

"You agreed last night." The matter was already settled. There was no room to back out of it. "I'm his godfather. James and Lily—" He choked on their names. Harry started to wail. "They wanted _me_ to look after him, Hagrid!" He had to practically shout to be heard.

Knowing better, but not caring, Sirius stuck his wand in his back pocket to have both hands free to better sooth Harry. He cooed, puckering his lips and crossing his eyes. He knew how silly he must look, and found he didn't much care. The wails reduced to whimpers, and then to giggles.

"I know you love 'im, and I'd love to see you keep 'im, but Dumbledore knows best."

Sirius raised his eyes reproachfully."I don't think that he does. Not about Harry."

In the seconds it took Sirius to reply, Harry began to wail pitifully again. Sirius bounced him in his arms, cooing desperately at him.

Hagrid was frozen, the dissention too alien for him to process immediately. His cheeks flushed with anger that couldn't last as he watched the disheveled, half-naked man before him trying vainly to comfort Harry. Sirius was three years out of Hogwarts, and yet Hagrid had never seen him look so young.

"Y-You-Know-Who is dead-"

"I'm aware, yes," Sirius interrupted tartly.

"He is dead, but the Death Eater's, 'n everybody that'd been supporting him aren't. Everyone knows by now what happened. When his supporters get their wits about 'em, they're gonna be lookin' for 'im. Monsters like that look for revenge where they c'n get it, even if it's by hurtin' somethin' so small and helpless. Dumbledore says he'll be safe and protected until everythin' is all sorted out."

" _I'll_ protect him," Sirius snapped, but his eyes were wide and glassy, his voice watery. "I would give my life for him. _I'm his godfather!_ "

"Which is why everyone knows _you_ have 'im just as everyone knows You-Know-Who is dead." Everything Hagrid had said thus far had seemed stiff and rehearsed, but this came out of his mouth with the spontaneous ease of pure conviction.

"Well. Do they know _where_ I am? Did you tell them in one of your famous drunken confessions?" Sirius shocked even himself with the bite of his words, but he could not find it in him to be sorry.

"The only people that know I let Dumbledore down are you and him. You're a great wizard and a hell of a fighter, but Dumbledore, h-he… said something about a Bond of Blood Charm. That it would convince you if I couldn't to let me take Harry to Lily's sister. He hoped it would make you feel better knowing what sort of protection he would have there." Hagrid was chewing his lips, fat tears rolling down his cheeks and into his beard.

Sirius's eyes slid closed. He rested his forehead against Harry's, whose tiny fingers found their way into his hair.

"It does not make me feel better," Sirius said. But he could not deny the safety that Harry was being offered. "Just let me clean him up and feed him before you go. You can sit… anywhere you like while you wait." If he hadn't felt so numb with grief, he would have been relieved to see Hagrid sink to the floor instead of attempt one of the chairs or the sofa.

Sirius used the coffee table as an impromptu changing station, continuing to coo and make silly faces, all while looking rather green around the gills. "Y-you know yer way 'round nappies, huh?"

"I read the back of the box last night. It's not as simple as they would lead you to believe," Sirius replied, watching Harry carefully, almost fearfully, knowing all too well what could erupt from his tiny body without warning. When he was all clean and dry, he fixed a bottle of formula with a few quick flicks of his wand. Harry drank greedily as he sat on Sirius's lap, his eyes fixed curiously on Hagrid from behind his bottle.

As soon as the formula was gone Harry was already nodding off to sleep again. Sirius bundled him in the blanket Hagrid had taken from his crib the night prior. "Are you flying?"

Hagrid scoffed. "There is no broom in creation that could hold the likes of me. I'll be takin' the Knight Bus."

Sirius pulled a quilt off the back of the couch, nestling Harry in the additional layer. He stood, and picked his motorbike key up off the table. That morning he had dangled and shook it to amuse Harry, to no avail. He handed it to Hagrid. The man gave him a bewildered look. "What's this?"

"Take my bike. I won't be needing it anymore." Not with Harry gone. Before, he could not take this risk. Harry needed him. But now, it was James and Lily that did.

"You need that bike plenty!" Hagrid protested, not knowing what was on Sirius's mind, but knowing that what ever it was could not be good.

"I can get around just fine. I can Apparate, I can ride a broom. It's of far more use to you than it will be to me and it'll be faster than the Knight Bus. Just promise you'll take care of it." Sirius had not looked up from Harry's sleeping face.

"I'll take it fer tonight, but I'm bringing it back," Hagrid insisted.

"The bike isn't what I want back." Sirius pressed his lips against Harry's forehead, careful to avoid the scar just in case the injury hurt. "Listen to me Harry, and listen good. You are loved. Never forget it," he whispered. It seemed too simple, but it was all he could think to say. "You'd think I'd be better at goodbyes by now after all the practice this damned war has given me."

Hagrid's large hands enveloped his shoulders like a vest. "Dumbledore says Harry has't live with his aunt in order for the charm to work, but that don't mean you won't see him or that you're no longer his godfather. He still needs you. He's goin' to be livin' with Muggles, after all. Someone's gonna have't show him the ropes and bring him to Diagon Alley when it comes time."

"Just take him. Please." Sirius grit out with as much dignity as he could muster. It would not do to cry now. "Be careful with him. Treat him gently."

"I'll be gentler with him than a cat with a kitten." Considering cats dragged their young around by the nape of the neck that wasn't the most comforting of comparisons, but Hagrid had taken Harry from his arms so reverently that he could not doubt his care. "Don't be alone right now. Find your friends. I know things are rough between you and Remus now, but reach out to Peter at least." The anger he felt at that name burned so brightly that it dried his tears before they had the chance to fall.

"But of course," Sirius said. Hagrid was still too wound in sorrow to notice the dangerous intent in his voice.


End file.
